OHB's €1.2 Billion Convertible Gamble: Funding Growth Amid a Shareholder Exit and a Liquid Revival
03.06.2026 - 13:04:38 | boerse-global.de
OHB faces a pivotal moment as its annual general meeting approaches, with shareholders asked to approve a sweeping financial toolkit that could reshape the company’s capital structure. But the vote comes against a backdrop of unusual shareholder upheaval: private equity giant KKR is pulling back, and a once-negligible free float is about to expand dramatically.
The Bremer space and defence group has proposed an authorization to issue convertible or option bonds worth up to €1.2 billion in nominal value before 2031, alongside participation certificates. The plan would create a new conditional capital line — dubbed 2026/I — capable of issuing up to 3.84 million new shares, a potential dilution of roughly 20% of current equity. While no issuance is imminent, the scale of the mandate has drawn attention from investors who fear their holdings could be watered down just as the company is hitting its operational stride.
Yet the board argues the capacity is essential. The order backlog stood at a record by March 31, 2026 — over €3.35 billion — fuelled by institutional contracts with the European Space Agency (ESA) and the European Union, including the Galileo navigation programme and a new generation of weather satellites. That work has to be financed and executed. First-quarter numbers underscored the momentum: total revenue climbed about 15% year-on-year to €279.3 million, while EBITDA jumped to €25.7 million from €17.3 million a year earlier.
Meanwhile, a separate transformation is underway in OHB’s shareholder register. KKR, which built up a stake of approximately 29% in 2024, is now planning to reduce that to a single-digit percentage. Roughly 20 percentage points are expected to be placed before the end of June, catapulting the free float from a dangerously thin 6% to around 26%. The family of founder Christa Fuchs retains control with 65% of voting rights, so the board’s grip is unchanged, but the increase in tradable shares could curb the violent price swings that have plauged the stock in recent months.
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Seven banks are coordinating the placement: Deutsche Bank, Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan were already mandated, with Berenberg, Commerzbank, Jefferies and UniCredit added to the syndicate. The improved liquidity is likely to be welcomed by institutional investors who have long complained that even moderate orders moved the stock erratically.
At the virtual AGM on 8 June, shareholders will cast votes on both the financing authorization and a proposed dividend of €0.60 per share. The deadline for electronic comments from investors closes at midnight on Wednesday, giving activists a chance to weigh in before the meeting.
Operationally, the company continues to cement its position in European space sovereignty. OHB Sweden, a subsidiary, awarded a €7.6 million subcontract to AAC Clyde Space for power and data management systems for the EPS-Sterna mission — 21 units to be delivered between 2027 and 2029. OHB Sweden, as prime contractor for ESA, is developing a constellation of small satellites that will deliver precise temperature and humidity data for European weather forecasting out to 2042. The order is modest compared to the headline figures, but it underlines the long-term, institutional nature of OHB’s revenue base.
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Adding a layer of market context, the planned initial public offering of Elon Musk’s SpaceX — pencilled for mid-June 2026 — is already creating a valuation benchmark for the space sector. Analysts expect it to lift the entire industry’s profile, even if OHB’s story is built on steady government contracts rather than pure growth speculation.
For now, the immediate focus is on the AGM vote. If the convertible authorization passes, OHB’s financial firepower will be vastly expanded, but the spectre of dilution will hang over the stock as long as the authority remains unexercised. Combined with KKR’s retreat and the subsequent liquidity injection, the coming weeks promise to test whether shareholders are willing to trade near-term dilution risk for long-term growth capacity.
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